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Kylie Minogue (biography)
Kylie Minogue (born Kylie Ann Minogue Jones on May 28, 1968 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is a female Australian singer\songwriter & actress. Kylie first gained recognition starring in the Australian soap opera "Neighbours" portraying the role of Charlene Robinson for two years. Since then, she has been recording music and has achieved commercial success and critical acclaim in the entertainment industry. Early Life Kylie was born to parents Ronald Charles Minogue and Carol Anne Jones. Her father is a fifth generation Australian and has Irish ancestry while her mother came from Maesteg, Wales; Carol's mother originated from England. Carol had lived in Wales until she was 10 years old when her mother and father, Millie and Denis Jones decided to move to Australia for a better life. Just before Kylie's birth, Ron qualified as an accountant and worked through several jobs while Carol worked as a professional dancer. Her younger brother, Brendan is a news cameraman in Australia while her younger sister Dannii Minogue is also a singer and television host. The Minogue family frequently moved around various suburbs in Melbourne to sustain their living expenses which Kylie found unsettling as a child. After the birth of Dannii, the family moved to South Oakleigh. Because money was tight, Ron worked as an accountant at a family-owned car company and Carol worked as a tea lady at a local hospital. After moving to Surrey Hills, Melbourne, Kylie attended the Studfield Primary School briefly before attending the Camberwell Primary School. She went on to Camberwell High School. During her school years, Kylie found it difficult to make friends. She graduated high school with a high order certificate for Arts and Graphics and English. She described herself as being of "average intelligence" and "quite modest" during her high school years. Both Kylie and Dannii began their careers as children on Australian television. From the age of 11, Kylie appeared in small roles in soap operas including "The Sullivans" and "Skyways." In 1985, she was cast in one of the lead roles in "The Henderson Kids." She took time off school to film the show and while Carol was not impressed, Kylie felt that she needed the independence to make it into the entertainment industry. During filming, Kylie's co-star Nadine Garner labelled her "fragile" after producers yelled at her for forgetting her lines and she would often cry on set. Kylie was dropped from the second season of the show after producer Alan Hardy felt the need for her character to be "written off". In retrospect, Hardy stated that removing her from the showing "turned out to be the best thing for her". Interested in following a career in music, Kylie made a demo tape for the producers of weekly music programme "Young Talent Time" which featured Dannii as a regular performer. Kylie gave her first television singing performance on the show in 1985, but she was not invited to join the cast. Dannii's success overshadowed her acting achievements until Kylie was cast in the soap opera "Neighbours" in 1986 as Charlene Mitchell, a schoolgirl turned garage mechanic. "Neighbours" achieved popularity in the UK and a story arc that created a romance between Kylie's character and the character played by Jason Donovan culminated in a wedding episode in 1987 that attracted an audience of 20 million British viewers. She became the first person to win four Logie Awards in one year and was the youngest recipient of the "Gold Logie" as the country's "Most Popular Television Performer" with the result determined by public vote. 1987-1989: "Kylie" and "Enjoy Yourself" During a Fitzroy Football Club benefit concert with the other cast members of "Neighbours", Kylie performed "I Got You Babe" as a duet with actor John Waters, and "The Loco-Motion" as an encore. She was subsequently signed to a recording contract with Mushroom Records in 1987. Kylie's first single, "The Locomotion" spent seven weeks at number one on the Australian singles charts and became the country's highest-selling single in the 1980s. She received the ARIA Award for the year's highest-selling single. The single's success resulted in Kylie travelling to England with Mushroom Records executive Gary Ashley to work with music producers Stock, Aitken & Waterman. They knew little of Kylie and had forgotten that she was arriving and as a result, they wrote "I Should Be So Lucky" while she waited outside the studio. The song reached number one in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Israel and Hong Kong. Kylie won her second consecutive ARIA Award for the year's highest-selling single, and received a "Special Achievement Award". In July of 1988, her debut album "Kylie" was released. It was a collection of dance-oriented pop tunes and spent more than a year on the UK Albums Chart, including several weeks at number one. The album went gold in the United States and the single "The Locomotion", reached #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number one on the Canadian Singles Chart. The single "Got to Be Certain" became Kylie's third consecutive number one single on the Australian music charts. Later in the year, she left "Neighbours" to focus on her music career. She also collaborated with Jason Donovan for the song "Especially for You" which peaked at number-one in the United Kingdom and in December 2014 sold its one millionth copy in the UK. Kylie was sometimes referred to as "the Singing Budgie" by her detractors over the coming years. In a review of the album "Kylie" for AllMusic, Chris True described the tunes as "standard, late-80s ... bubblegum", but added that "her cuteness makes these rather vapid tracks bearable". Kylie's sophomore album "Enjoy Yourself" was released in October of 1989. The album was a success in the United Kingdom, Europe, New Zealand, Asia and Australia and spawned number one singles "Hand on Your Heart" and "Tears on My Pillow". However, it failed to sell well throughout North America and Kylie was dropped by her American record label Geffen Records. Then, Kylie embarked on her first concert tour, the Enjoy Yourself Tour in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and Australia in February 1990. She was also one of the featured vocalists on the remake of "Do They Know It's Christmas?". Kylie's debut film "The Delinquents" was released in December of 1989. The movie was poorly received by critics, but it proved popular with audiences. In the UK, it grossed more than £200,000 and in Australia, it was the fourth-highest grossing local film of 1989 and the highest grossing local film of 1990. 1990-1992: "Rhythm of Love" and "Let's Get To It" In November of 1990, Kylie's third album "Rhythm of Love" was released and was described as "...leaps and bounds more mature..." than her previous albums. Her relationship with Michael Hutchence (the lead singer of rock band INXS) was also seen as part of her departure from her earlier persona. She then embarked on the Rhythm of Love Tour in February of 1991. Her fourth album "Let's Get to It" released in October 1991 and reached number 15 on the UK Albums Chart. It was her first album to fail to reach the top ten. While the first single from the album "Word Is Out" became her first single to miss the top ten of the UK Singles Chart. The album's subsequent singles "If You Were with Me Now" and "Give Me Just a Little More Time" both reached the top five. In support of the album, Kylie embarked on the Let's Get to It Tour in October. She had fulfilled the requirements of her contract with her record company and elected not to renew it. Kylie later expressed her opinion that she was stifled by Stock, Aitken and Waterman, saying, "I was very much a puppet in the beginning. I was blinkered by my record company. I was unable to look left or right." In August of 1992, her first Greatest Hits album was released and it reached #1 in the United Kingdom and #3 in Australia. The singles from the album, "What Kind of Fool" and her cover version of Kool & the Gang's "Celebration" both reached the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart. 1993-1998: "Kylie Minogue" and "Impossible Princess" In 1993, Kylie signed a record deal with Deconstruction Records which marked a new phase in her career. In September of 1994, her fifth self-titled studio album and sold well in Europe and Australia. The album was produced by dance music producers the Brothers In Rhythm (namely Dave Seaman and Steve Anderson) who had previously produced her song "Finer Feelings" (her last single with PWL). As of 2015, Anderson continued to be Kylie's musical director. The lead single "Confide in Me" spent four weeks at number one on the Australian singles chart. The next two singles from the album, "Put Yourself in My Place" and "Where Is the Feeling?" reached the top twenty on the UK Singles Chart while the album peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart, eventually selling 250,000 copies. During this period, Kylie made a guest appearance as herself in an episode of the comedy "The Vicar of Dibley." Director Steven E. de Souza saw her cover photo in Australia's "Who Magazine" as one of "The 30 Most Beautiful People in the World" and he offered Kylie a role opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme in the film "Street Fighter." "Street Fighter" was a moderate success, earning US$70 million in the US, but it received poor reviews with The Washington Post's Richard Harrington calling Kylie "the worst actress in the English-speaking world". Kylie had a minor role in the 1996 film "Bio-Dome" (starring Pauly Shore and Stephen Baldwin), appeared in the 1995 short film "Hayride to Hell" and in the 1997 film "Diana & Me." In 1995, Kylie collaborated with Australian artist Nick Cave for the song "Where the Wild Roses Grow". Cave had been interested in working with Kylie since hearing her song "Better the Devil You Know", saying it contained "one of pop music's most violent and distressing lyric''s". The music video for their song was inspired by John Everett Millais's painting "Ophelia" (1851–1852) and showed Kylie as the murdered woman, floating in a pond as a serpent swam over her body. The single received widespread attention in Europe where it reached the top 10 in several countries and reached number two in Australia. The song won ARIA Awards for "Song of the Year" & "Best Pop Release". Following concert appearances with Cave, Kylie recited the lyrics to "I Should Be So Lucky" as poetry in London's Royal Albert Hall. By 1997, she was in a relationship with French photographer Stéphane Sednaoui, who encouraged her to develop her creativity. Inspired by a mutual appreciation of Japanese culture, Kylie and Sednaoui created a visual combination of "''geisha and manga superheroine" for the photographs taken for Kylie's sixth album "Impossible Princess" and the video for "German Bold Italic" (her collaboration with Towa Tei). Kylie drew inspiration from the music of artists such as Shirley Manson and Garbage, Björk, Tricky and U2 & Japanese pop musicians such as Pizzicato Five and Towa Tei. The album featured collaborations with musicians including James Dean Bradfield and Sean Moore of the Manic Street Preachers. Mostly a dance album, Kylie countered suggestions that she was trying to become an indie artist. Acknowledging that she had attempted to escape the perceptions of her that had developed during her early career, Kylie commented that she was ready to "forget the painful criticism" and "accept the past, embrace it, use it". The music video for "Did It Again" paid homage to her earlier incarnations. The album was retitled "Kylie Minogue" in the UK following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales and became the lowest-selling album of her career. At the end of the year, a campaign by Virgin Radio stated, "We've done something to improve Kylie's records: we've banned them." While in Australia, the album was a success and spent 35 weeks on the album chart. Kylie's Intimate and Live tour in 1998 was extended due to demand. She gave several live performances in Australia, including the 1998 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and the opening ceremonies of Melbourne's Crown Casino, and Sydney's Fox Studios in 1999 (where she performed Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend") as well as a Christmas concert in Dili, East Timor, in association with the United Nations Peace-Keeping Forces. She also played a small role in the 2000 Australian-made Molly Ringwald film "Cut." 1999-2004: "Light Years," "Fever" and "Body Language" After Kylie parted ways with Deconstruction Records, she performed a duet with the Pet Shop Boys' on their Nightlife album and spent several months in Barbados performing in Shakespeare's The Tempest. She then appeared in the film "Sample People" and recorded a cover version of Russell Morris's "The Real Thing" for the soundtrack. In April of 1999, Kylie signed with Parlophone Records, which wanted to re-establish Minogue as a pop artist. In September of 2000, she released her seventh studio album "Light Years". The album was a collection of dance songs, influenced by disco music. It generated strong reviews and was successful throughout Australia, Asia, Europe and New Zealand. The lead single "Spinning Around" became Kylie's first number one in the United Kingdom in ten years and its accompanying video featured her in revealing gold hot pants, which came to be regarded as a "trademark". The second single from the album "On a Night Like This" reached number one in Australia and number two in the United Kingdom. Another single "Kids" (a duet with Robbie Williams) also peaked at number two in the United Kingdom. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics closing ceremony, Kylie performed ABBA's "Dancing Queen" and her single "On a Night Like This". She then embarked on the On a Night Like This Tour which played to sell-out crowds in Australia and the United Kingdom. The tour incorporated Burlesque and theatre and cited the style of Broadway shows such as 42nd Street, films such as Anchors Aweigh, South Pacific, the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals of the 1930s and the live performances of Bette Midler as inspiration. Kylie was praised for her new material and her reinterpretations of some of her greatest successes. She won a "Mo Award" for Australian live entertainment as "Performer of the Year" and also appeared in the 2001 film "Moulin Rouge!" as "The Green Fairy". In October of 2001, Kylie released her eighth studio album "Fever." The album contained disco elements combined with 1980s electropop and synthpop. It reached number one in Australia, United Kingdom & throughout Europe, eventually achieving worldwide sales in excess of eight million. The album's lead single, "Can't Get You Out of My Head" became the biggest success of her career, reaching number one in more than forty countries and selling over 5 million copies. Kylie won four ARIA Awards including a "Most Outstanding Achievement" award and two Brit Awards for "Best International Female Solo Artist" and "Best international album". Following extensive airplay by American radio, Capitol Records released the song and the album "Fever" in the US in 2002. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 albums chart at number three and "Can't Get You out of My Head" reached number seven on the Hot 100. The subsequent singles "In Your Eyes", "Love at First Sight" and "Come into My World" were successful throughout the world and Kylie established a presence in the mainstream North American market, particularly in the club scene. She followed the success of the album by touring the United States with the Jingle Ball festival. In April 2002, Kylie embarked on the KylieFever2002 tour which became the biggest production she had put on to date. Later that year, she worked in a voice role on the animated film "The Magic Roundabout" which was released in 2005 in Europe. In 2003, Kylie received a Grammy Award nomination for "Best Dance Recording" for "Love at First Sight" and the following year won the same award for "Come into My World". In November of 2003, Kylie released her ninth studio album "Body Language" following an invitation-only concert entitled "Money Can't Buy" at the Hammersmith Apollo in London. The album downplayed the disco style and was inspired by 1980s artists such as Scritti Politti, The Human League, Adam and the Ants & Prince, blending their styles with elements of hip hop. The sales of the album were lower than anticipated after the success of "Fever" even though the first single, "Slow" was a number-one hit in the United Kingdom and Australia. Two more singles from the album were released: "Red Blooded Woman" and "Chocolate". In the US, "Slow" reached number-one on the club chart and received a Grammy Award nomination in the Best Dance Recording category. Body Language achieved first week sales of 43,000 and declined significantly in the second week. In November of 2004, Kylie released her second official greatest hits album entitled Ultimate Kylie. The album yielded two singles: "I Believe in You" and "Giving You Up". "I Believe in You" was later nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of "Best Dance Recording". 2005-2009: Showgirl and X In March of 2005, Kylie commenced her Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour. After performing in Europe, she travelled to Melbourne where she was diagnosed with breast cancer which forced her to cancel the tour. In November of 2006, Kylie resumed the tour with a performance in Sydney. Her dance routines had been reworked to accommodate her medical condition with slower costume changes & longer breaks introduced between sections of the show to conserve her strength. The media reported that Kylie performed energetically with the Sydney Morning Herald describing the show as an "extravaganza" and "nothing less than a triumph". In November of 2007, her released her tenth and much-discussed "comeback" album "X." The electro-styled album included contributions from Guy Chambers, Cathy Dennis, Bloodshy & Avant and Calvin Harris. It also received some criticism for the triviality of its subject matter in light of Kylie's experiences with breast cancer. The album and the lead single "2 Hearts" entered at number one on the Australian albums and singles charts respectively. In the United Kingdom, "X" initially attracted lukewarm sales, although its commercial performance eventually improved. The follow-up singles from the album, "In My Arms" and "Wow" both peaked inside the top ten of the UK Singles Chart. In the US, the album was nominated at the 2009 Grammy Awards for "Best Electronic/Dance Album." As part of the promotion of her album, Kylie was featured in "White Diamond" (a documentary filmed during 2006 and 2007) as she resumed her Showgirl Homecoming Tour. She also appeared in "The Kylie Show" which featured her performances as well as comedy sketches with Mathew Horne, Dannii Minogue, Jason Donovan and Simon Cowell. Kylie co-starred in the 2007 "Doctor Who" Christmas special episode, "Voyage of the Damned" in the role of Astrid Peth. The episode was watched by 13.31 million viewers which was the show's highest viewing figure since 1979. In May of 2008, Kylie embarked on the European leg of the KylieX2008 tour, her most expensive tour to date with production costs of £10 million. The tour was generally acclaimed and sold well. She was then appointed a Chevalier of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, the junior grade of France's highest cultural honour. In July, Kylie was officially invested by The Prince of Wales as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. She also won the "Best International Female Solo Artist" award at the 2008 BRIT Awards. n September, she made her Middle East debut as the headline act at the opening of Atlantis, The Palm, (an exclusive hotel resort in Dubai) and from November, she continued her KylieX2008 tour, taking the show to cities across South America, Asia and Australia. The tour visited 21 countries and was considered a success with ticket sales estimated at $70,000,000. In 2009, Kylie hosted the BRIT Awards with James Corden and Mathew Horne. She then embarked on the For You, For Me tour which was her first North American concert tour. She was also featured in the Hindi movie "Blue" performing an A. R. Rahman song. 2010-2012: "Aphrodite" and "The Abbey Road Sessions" In July of 2010, Kylie released her eleventh studio album "Aphrodite." The album featured new songwriters and producers including Stuart Price as executive producer. Price also contributed to song writing along with Minogue, Calvin Harris, Jake Shears, Nerina Pallot, Pascal Gabriel, Lucas Secon, Keane's Tim Rice-Oxley and Kish Mauve. The album received favourable reviews from most music critics; Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone labelled the album Kylie's "finest work since 1997's underrated Impossible Princess" and Tim Sendra from Allmusic commended her choice of collaborators and producers, commenting that the album is the "work of someone who knows exactly what her skills are and who to hire to help showcase them to perfection". The album debuted at number-one in the United Kingdom, exactly twenty two years after her first number one hit in the United Kingdom. The album's lead single, "All the Lovers" was a success and became her thirty-third top ten single in the United Kingdom even though subsequent singles from the album, "Get Outta My Way", "Better than Today" and "Put Your Hands Up", failed to reach the top ten of the UK Singles Chart. However, all the singles released from the album have topped the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart. Kylie recorded a duet with synthpop duo Hurts on their song "Devotion" which was included on the group's album "Happiness." She was then featured on Taio Cruz's single "Higher". The result was successful, peaking inside the top twenty in several charts and reaching number one on the US Hot Dance Club Charts. At the time, Kylie also held the third spot on the chart with "Higher", her collaboration with British recording artist Taio Cruz, becoming the first artist to claim two of the top three spots at the same time in the American dance chart's history. To conclude her recordings in 2010, Kylie released the extended play "A Kylie Christmas" which included covers of Christmas songs including "Let It Snow" and "Santa Baby". She embarked on the Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour in February 2011, travelling to Europe, North America, Asia, Australia and Africa. With a stage set inspired by the birth of the love goddess Aphrodite and Grecian culture and history, it was greeted with positive reviews from critics, who praised the concept and the stage production. The tour was a commercial success, grossing a total of US$60 million and ranking at number six and twenty-one on the mid year and annual Pollstar Top Concert Tours of 2011 respectively. In 2012, Kylie began a year-long celebration for her 25 years in the music industry, which was often called "K25". The anniversary started with her embarking on the Anti Tour in England and Australia, which featured b-sides, demos and rarities from her music catalogue. The tour was positively received for its intimate atmosphere and was a commercial success, grossing over two million dollars from four shows. Kylie then released the single "Timebomb" in May, the greatest hits compilation album, "The Best of Kylie Minogue" in June and the singles box-set "K25 Time Capsule" in October. She performed at various events around the world including Sydney Mardi Gras, Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Concert and BBC Proms in the Park London 2012. Kylie released the compilation album "The Abbey Road Sessions" in October. The album contained reworked and orchestral versions of her previous songs. It was recorded at London's Abbey Road Studios and was produced by Steve Anderson and Colin Elliot. The album received favourable reviews from music critics and debuted at number-two in the United Kingdom. The album spawned two singles, "Flower" and "On a Night Like This". Kylie returned to acting and starred in two films: a cameo appearance in the American independent film "Jack & Diane" and a lead role in the French film "Holy Motors." "Jack & Diane" opened at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 20, 2012 while Holy Motors opened at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival which she attended. 2013-Current: "Kiss Me Once" and "Kylie Christmas" In January of 2013, Kylie and her manager Terry Blamey (whom she had worked with since the start of her singing career) parted ways. The following month, she signed to Roc Nation for a management deal. In September, Kylie was featured on Italian singer-songwriter Laura Pausini's single "Limpido" which was a number-one hit in Italy and received a nomination for "World's Best Song" at the 2013 World Music Awards. During that the same month, Kylie was hired as a coach for the third series of BBC One's talent competition "The Voice UK" (alongside record producer and Black Eyed Peas member, will.i.am, Kaiser Chiefs' lead singer Ricky Wilson and singer Sir Tom Jones). The show opened with 9.35 million views from the UK, a large percentage increase from the second season. It accumulated an estimated 8.10 million viewers on average. Kylie's judging and personality on the show were singled out for praise. Ed Power from The Daily Telegraph gave the series premiere 3 stars, praising her for being "glamorous, agreeably giggly and a card-carrying national treasure". In November, she was hired as a coach for the third season of "The Voice Australia." In March of 2014, Kylie released her 12th studio album "Kiss Me Once." The album featured contributions from Sia Furler, Mike Del Rio, Cutfather, Pharrell Williams, MNEK and Ariel Rechtshaid. It peaked at number one in Australia and number two in the United Kingdom. The singles from the album "Into the Blue" and "I Was Gonna Cancel", did not chart inside the top ten of the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 12 and number 59 respectively. In August, Kylie performed a seven song set at the closing ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, donning a custom Jean Paul Gaultier corset. In September, she embarked on the Kiss Me Once Tour. In January of 2015, she appeared as a guest vocalist on Giorgio Moroder's single "Right Here, Right Now" providing her 12th number one hit on the U.S. Dance Chart on April 18, 2015. In March of 2015, Kylie's contract with Parlophone Records ended, leaving her future music releases with Warner Music Group in Australia and New Zealand. The same month, she parted ways with Roc Nation "to take more control over her career." In April, Kylie played tech reporter Shauna in a two episode arc on the ABC Family series "Young & Hungry." She also appeared as Susan Riddick in the disaster film "San Andreas" which was released in May and starred Dwayne Johnson and Carla Gugino. In September 2015, an extended play with Fernando Garibay titled "Kylie + Garibay" was released. Garibay and Giorgio Moroder served as producers for the extended play. In November, Kylie was a featured artist on the track "The Other Boys" by Nervo, alongside Jake Shears and Nile Rodgers. This became her thirteenth chart topper on the U.S Dance Chart, lifting Kylie's position in the list of artists with the most U.S. Dance Chart number ones to equal 8th alongside Whitney Houston, Enrique Iglesias and Lady Gaga. In December of 2015, Kylie was the guest on BBC Radio 4's "Desert Island Discs." Her choices included "Dancing Queen" by ABBA, "Purple Rain" by Prince and "Need You Tonight" by INXS. In November of 2015, she released her first Christmas album, Kylie Christmas in November 2015. Public Image Kylie Minogue has been known for her soft soprano vocal range. Dara Hickey reviewed her studio album "Aphrodite" and wrote that she is "singing in her highest vocal range ever." According to Fiona MacDonald from Madison magazine, Kylie "has never shied away from making some brave but questionable artistic decisions". In musical terms, Kylie has worked with many genres in pop and dance music. However, her signature music has been contemporary disco music. Her first studio albums with Stock, Aitken, and Waterman present a more bubblegum pop influence with many critics comparing her to American recording artist Madonna. Chris True from Allmusic, reviewed her debut Kylie and found her music "standard late-'80s Stock-Aitken-Waterman bubblegum", however he stated that she presented the most personality of any 1980s recording artist. He said of Kylie's third album "Rhythm of Love" from the early 1990s, "The songwriting is stronger, the production dynamic, and Kylie seems more confident vocally." At the time of her third studio album, "She began to trade in her cutesy, bubblegum pop image for a more mature one, and in turn, a more sexual one." Chris True stated that during Kylie's relationship with Michael Hutchence, "her shedding of the near-virginal façade that dominated her first two albums, began to have an effect, not only on how the press and her fans treated her, but in the evolution of her music." From Kylie's work on her sixth studio album "Impossible Princess" her songwriting and musical content began to change. She was constantly writing down words, exploring the form and meaning of sentences. She had written lyrics before, but called them "safe, just neatly rhymed words and that's that". The album (in musical genres) varied from her previous efforts as it incorporated "dance-pop" and "trip hop" music. Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine said that the album bears a resemblance to Madonna's Ray of Light. He said that she took inspiration from "both the Brit-pop and electronica movements of the mid-'90s", saying that "Impossible Princess is the work of an artist willing to take risks". Her next effort "Light Years", he said was "worked up by the renaissance of pure dance-pop that was the order of the day at the onset of the 21st century." Kylie's ninth album "Body Language" was quite different from her musical experiments in the past as it was a "successful" attempt at broadening her sound with electro and hip-hop for instance. Incorporating styles of dance music with funk, disco and R&B, the album was listed on Q's "Best Albums of 2003". Kylie's tenth record "X" was a move back to her pop roots. In a press interview for the promotion of the album, she stated that the album was "mainly electropop" and was a "celebration for me to be back working." However, critics said the album did not feature enough "consistency" and Chris True called the tracks "cold, calculated dance-pop numbers." However, he said her eleventh album "Aphrodite" "rarely strays past sweet love songs or happy dance anthems" and "the main sound is the kind of glittery disco pop that really is her strong suit." Tim Sendra from Allmusic stated, "The various producers keep their eyes on the dancefloor throughout, crafting shiny and sleek tracks that sound custom-built to blast out of huge speaker columns" and found "Aphrodite" "One of her best, in fact." Artistry Kylie's efforts to be taken seriously as a recording artist were initially hindered by the perception that she had not "paid her dues" and was no more than a manufactured pop star exploiting the image she had created during her stint on Neighbours. Kylie acknowledged this viewpoint, saying, "If you're part of a record company, I think to a degree it's fair to say that you're a manufactured product. You're a product and you're selling a product. It doesn't mean that you're not talented and that you don't make creative and business decisions about what you will and won't do and where you want to go." In 1993, Baz Luhrmann introduced Kylie to photographer Bert Stern (notable for his work with Marilyn Monroe). Stern photographed her in Los Angeles and (comparing her to Monroe), commented that she had a similar mix of vulnerability and eroticism. Throughout her career, Kylie has chosen photographers who attempt to create a new "look" for her and the resulting photographs have appeared in a variety of magazines from the cutting edge "The Face" to the more traditionally sophisticated "Vogue" and "Vanity Fair" making the Minogue face and name known to a broad range of people. Stylist William Baker has suggested that this is part of the reason she entered mainstream pop culture in Europe more successfully than many other pop singers who concentrate solely on selling records. By 2000, Kylie was considered to have achieved a degree of musical credibility for having maintained her career longer than her critics had expected. Her progression from the wholesome "girl next door" to a more sophisticated performer with a flirtatious and playful persona attracted new fans. Her "Spinning Around" video led to some media outlets referring to her as "SexKylie" and sex became a stronger element in her subsequent videos. William Baker described her status as a sex symbol as a "double edged sword", observing that "we always attempted to use her sex appeal as an enhancement of her music and to sell a record. But now it has become in danger of eclipsing what she actually is: a pop singer." After 20 years as a performer, Kylie was described as a fashion "trend-setter" and a "style icon who constantly reinvents herself". She has been acknowledged for mounting successful tours and for worldwide record sales of more than 70 million. Kylie has been inspired by and compared to Madonna throughout her career. Her producer, Pete Waterman, recalled her during the early years of her success with the observation: "She was setting her sights on becoming the new Prince or Madonna ... What I found amazing was that she was outselling Madonna four to one, but still wanted to be her." Kylie received negative comments that her Rhythm of Love tour in 1991 was too similar visually to Madonna's "Blond Ambition World Tour" for which critics labelled her a Madonna wannabe. Kathy McCabe for "The Telegraph" noted that Kylie and Madonna follow similar styles in music and fashion, but concluded, "Where they truly diverge on the pop-culture scale is in shock value. Kylie's clips might draw a gasp from some but Madonna's ignite religious and political debate unlike any other artist on the planet ... Simply, Madonna is the dark force; Kylie is the light force." Rolling Stone commented that (with the exception of the US), Kylie is regarded throughout the world as "an icon to rival Madonna", saying, "Like Madonna, Minogue was not a virtuosic singer but a canny trend spotter." Kylie has said of Madonna, "Her huge influence on the world, in pop and fashion, meant that I wasn't immune to the trends she created. I admire Madonna greatly but in the beginning she made it difficult for artists like me, she had done everything there was to be done", and "Madonna's the Queen of Pop, I'm the princess. I'm quite happy with that." Kylie has been declared by media as a sex symbol. In January of 2007, Madame Tussauds in London unveiled its fourth waxwork of her; only Queen Elizabeth II has had more models created. During the same week a bronze cast of her hands was added to Wembley Arena's "Square of Fame". On November 23, 2007, a bronze statue of Kylie was unveiled at Melbourne Docklands for permanent display. In March of 2010, she was declared by researchers as the "most powerful celebrity in Britain". The study examined how marketers identify celebrity and brand partnerships. Mark Husak, head of Millward Brown's UK media practice, said: "Kylie is widely accepted as an adopted Brit. People know her, like her and she is surrounded by positive buzz". Kylie was named one of the "100 Hottest Women of All-Time" by Men's Health. In May 2011, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, Kylie had a net worth of $66 million (£40m). In April of 2015, the list was updated with her estimated earnings of £55 million (AU $106.61 million). Kylie is regarded as a gay icon, which she has encouraged with comments including "I am not a traditional gay icon. There's been no tragedy in my life, only tragic outfit''s" and "''My gay audience has been with me from the beginning ... they kind of adopted me." She has explained that she first became aware of her gay audience in 1988, when several drag queens performed to her music at a Sydney pub, and she later saw a similar show in Melbourne. She said that she felt "very touched" to have such an "appreciative crowd" and this encouraged her to perform at gay venues throughout the world, as well as headlining the 1994 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Minogue has one of the largest gay followings in the world. Kylie's sister, Dannii also has a large gay following and has been regarded as a gay icon. In September 2007, Kylie was hailed the greatest gay icon of all time by The Sun. Personal Life Health On May 17, 2005 at the age of 36, Kylie was diagnosed with breast cancer which led to her postponing her "Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour" and withdrawing from the Glastonbury Festival. Kylie's hospitalisation and treatment in Melbourne resulted in a brief, but intense period of media coverage (particularly in Australia) where Prime Minister John Howard issued a statement of support. As media and fans began to congregate outside the Minogue residence in Melbourne, Victorian Premier Steve Bracks warned the international media that any disruption of the Minogue family's rights under Australian privacy laws would not be tolerated. His comments became part of a wider criticism of the media's overall reaction, with particular criticism directed towards paparazzi. On May 21, 2005, Kylie underwent surgery at Cabrini Hospital in Malvern and commenced chemotherapy treatment soon after. On July 8, 2005, she made her first public appearance after surgery when she visited a children's cancer ward at Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital. Kylie returned to France where she completed her chemotherapy treatment at the Institut Gustave-Roussy in Villejuif (near Paris). In December of 2005, she released a digital-only single, "Over the Rainbow", a live recording from her Showgirl tour. Her children's book "The Showgirl Princess" (written during her period of convalescence) was published in October 2006, and her perfume, "Darling", was launched in November. The range was later augmented by eau de toilettes including Pink Sparkle, Couture and Inverse. On her return to Australia for her concert tour, Kylie discussed her illness and said that her chemotherapy treatment had been like "experiencing a nuclear bomb". While appearing on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2008, she said that her cancer had originally been misdiagnosed. She commented, "Because someone is in a white coat and using big medical instruments doesn't necessarily mean they're right", but later spoke of her respect for the medical profession. Kylie was acknowledged for the impact she made by publicly discussing her cancer diagnosis and treatment; in May 2008, the French Cultural Minister Christine Albanel said, "Doctors now even go as far as saying there is a "Kylie effect" that encourages young women to have regular checks." Kylie is also hyperglycemic. She commented in March of 2015, "Sugar is not my friend, I'm hyperglycemic ...". Minogue follows the paleolithic diet and "loved all these amazing desserts that are made with avocado, almond bake, zucchini... I love it!" Relationships Kylie began a relationship with French actor Olivier Martinez after meeting him at the 2003 Grammy Awards ceremony. They ended their relationship in February 2007, but they remained on friendly terms. Kylie was reported to have been "saddened by false media accusations of Martinez's disloyalty". She defended Martinez and acknowledged the support he had given during her treatment for breast cancer. Kylie was in a relationship with model Andrés Velencoso from 2008 to 2013. In November of 2015, Kylie confirmed that she was dating British actor Joshua Sasse. On February 20, 2016, their engagement was announced in the "Forthcoming Marriages" section of The Daily Telegraph. Philantrophy Kylie has been involved in humanitarian support in areas including health research and quality of life. Musically, she has helped fundraise on many occasions. In 1989, she participated in recording "Do They Know It's Christmas?" under the name Band Aid II to help raise money. In early 2010, Kylie along with many other artists (under the name Helping Haiti) recorded a cover version of "Everybody Hurts". The single was a fundraiser to help after the 2010 Haiti earthquake with the proceeds going to both The Sun's "Helping Haiti" fund and the Disasters Emergency Committee. She also spent a week in Thailand after the 2005 tsunami. During her 2011 Aphrodite World Tour, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, which was on Kylie's itinerary. She declared she would continue to tour there, stating, "I was here to do shows and I chose not to cancel, Why did I choose not to cancel? I thought long and hard about it and it wasn't an easy decision to make." While she was there, she and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard were star guests at an Australian Embassy fundraiser for the disaster. In 2008, Kylie pledged her support for a campaign to raise money for abused children, to be donated to the British charities ChildLine and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. According to the source, around $93 million was raised. Kylie spoke out in relation to the cause, saying: "Finding the courage to tell someone about being abused is one of the most difficult decisions a child will ever have to make." In 2010 and 2012, she was involved in supporting the AIDS Support Gala which was held by the American Foundation for Aids Research (Amfar). Since Kylie's breast cancer diagnosis in 2005, she has been a sponsor and ambassador for the cause. In May of 2010, she held a breast cancer campaign for the first time. She later spoke about the cause saying, "It means so much to me to be part of this year's campaign for Fashion Targets Breast Cancer. I wholeheartedly support their efforts to raise funds for the vital work undertaken by Breakthrough Breast Cancer." For the cause, she posed in a silk sheet emblazoned with the distinctive target logo of "Fashion Targets Breast Cancer" for photographer Mario Testino. In 2010, she celebrated her fifth anniversary of being clear of the disease by hosting a charity concert to raise money for cancer charities and awareness of the condition. In April of 2014, Kylie had launched a new campaign entitled "One Note Against Cancer" which is a charity organisation to help cancer research. Legacy In February of 2012, VH1 ranked Kylie at number 47 on their VH1 Greatest Women in Music and number 49 on the "50 Greatest Women of the Video Era". Channel 4 listed her as one of the world's greatest pop stars. The Official Chart Company revealed that Kylie is the 12th best selling singer in the United Kingdom to date, and the third best selling female artist, selling over 10.1 million sales. According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), all her studio albums have been certified, and with her singles as well, she has a total of 27 certified records. In January of 2011, Kylie received a Guinness World Records citation for having the most consecutive decades with top five albums with all her albums doing so. In September, she was ranked 27 on VH1's "100 Sexiest Artists". In 2008, she was honoured with Music Industry Trust's award for recognition of her 20-year career and was hailed as "an icon of pop and style", becoming the first female musician or act to receive a Music Industry Trust award. Kylie made history in the United States for having two songs inside the top three on the US Dance Club Songs chart with her songs "Better than Today" and "Higher" (charting at one and three) respectively. She has sold more than 70 million records worldwide. Dino Scatena from smh.co.au wrote that "A quarter of a century ago, a sequence of symbiotic events altered the fabric of Australian popular culture and set in motion the transformation of a 19-year-old soap actor from Melbourne into an international pop icon." He then stated, "Who could have imagined this tiny, unsophisticated star of Neighbours, with the bad '80s perm and questionable vocal ability, would go on to become Australia's single most successful entertainer and a world-renowned style idol?" Throughout her career, Kylie has been known for reinventing herself in fashion and musical content. Fabulous Magazine labelled her a "Master of Reinvention." In November 2006, she posed for "Vogue Australia" with Larissa Dubecki from The Age labelling her the "Mother of Reinvention" by saying, "This unveiling is as cleverly managed as every aspect of her career, and her illness, to date. Like sharks, celebrities cannot remain static; they must keep moving or die. Kylie has beaten her early detractors by inhabiting almost a dozen identities ..." Fiona MacDonald from Madison said Kylie was "an icon, one of the handful of singers recognised around the world by her first name alone. And yet despite becoming an international music superstar, style icon and honorary Brit, those two syllables still seem as Australian as the smell of eucalyptus or a barbeque on a hot day." Kylie's hits have garned many accolades throughout her career. In January 2012, NME listed her worldwide hit single "Can't Get You Out of My Head" at number 4 on their "Greatest Pop Songs in History." The song was also named the most-played track of the decade. The song eventually became the 3rd best-selling UK single and the most-played song in the UK in 2001. As of 2012, "Can't Get You Out of My Head" was the 72nd song featured on UK's Official Top 100 Biggest Selling Singles of All Time. Kylie's single "Spinning Around" has also been iconic to her career, mostly due to her iconic hot pants, with critics calling the music video "excellent tabloid fodder" and a trademark to her career. Kylie's song "Come into My World" won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in 2004. Slant Magazine placed the video for "Come into My World" at number 1 on their "Best of the Aughts: Music Videos" list. In 2007, French avant-garde guitarist Noël Akchoté released "So Lucky" featuring solo guitar versions of tunes recorded by Minogue. Kylie has been recognised with a number of honorific nicknames. She has been compared to American recording artist Madonna in many media outlets with Madonna identified as Queen of Pop and Kylie as the Princess of Pop. The Birmingham Post said in 2000; "once upon a time, long before anybody had even heard of Britney, Christina, Jessica or Mandy, Australian singer Kylie Minogue ruled the charts as princess of pop. Back in 1988 her first single, I Should Be So Lucky, spent five weeks at number one, making her the most successful female artist in the UK charts with 13 successive Top 10 entries." Kylie is sometimes referred to as the Goddess of Pop/Pop Goddess. She has also been dubbed a Disco Queen. William Baker, co-author of her book "Kylie: La La La" talking about her song "Better the Devil You Know", commented, "The track transferred well onto the dance-floor and heralded a long reign for Kylie as the new queen of disco... a pop princess." Jon O'Brien from Allmusic reviewed her box-set "Kylie: The Albums 2000–2010" and stated "Kylie has yet to make that one essential album, and the going-through-the-motions nature of her later releases suggests her time may have passed, but this box set still contains plenty of moments to justify her position as one of the all-time premier pop princesses." In November of 2011, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the ARIA Music Awards, Kylie was inducted by the Australian Recording Industry Association into the ARIA Hall of Fame. Many celebrities have named Kylie as a role model. Many media outlets have said many people (particularly women) have undergone regular checks for cancer symptoms since her breast cancer diagnosis. In December of 2006, Sugar named her the Most Inspirational Celebrity as voted by teenage girls. Editor of the magazine Annabel Brog stated, "Kylie couldn't be any more inspirational. She's friendly, gorgeous, talented – and this year she's shown just how strong she is too." American singer and songwriter Lady Gaga thanked her on Twitter, citing her as "a supportive female." Television host Giuliana Rancic cited Kylie's cancer story as "inspirational" when she too was diagnosed with cancer. She said, "When you get diagnosed, you don't know what to do… you Google. I went online and I read your story, and it gave me the strength to go public as well." Many musical entertainers have cited Kylie as an influence including September, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Katy Perry, Destiny's Child, Marilyn Manson, Madonna, Natasha Bedingfield and Lady Gaga. Filmography Television *Neighbours (1986-1988) as Charlene Robinson *The Vicar of Dibley (1994) as Herself *Doctor Who (2007) as Astrid Peth *Young & Hungry (2015) as Shauna (in two episodes) *Galavant (2016) (in one episode) Discography #Kylie (1988) #Enjoy Yourself (1989) #Rhythm of Love (1990) #Let's Get To It (1991) #Kylie Minogue (1994) #Impossible Princess (1997) #Light Years (2000) #Fever (2001) #Body Language (2003) #X (2007) #Aphrodite (2010) #Kiss Me Once (2014) #Kylie Christmas (2015) Tours & Concerts #Disco in Dream (1989) #Enjoy Yourself Tour (1990) #Rhythm of Love Tour (1991) #Let's Get to It Tour (1991) #Intimate and Live (1998) #On a Night Like This (2001) #KylieFever2002 (2002) #Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour (2005) #Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour (2006–07) #KylieX2008 (2008–09) #For You, For Me (2009) #Aphrodite World Tour (2011) #Anti Tour (2012) #Kiss Me Once Tour (2014–15) #Kylie Summer 2015 (2015) Category:Browse